William “Billy” Chappell (b. ~1867)

Billy Chappell and Alex McDonald imported an electric light plant in the winter of 1897/98. They formed a company and hired Captain Donald B. Oleson, who had electrical experience, as general manager. The equipment was installed in October 1898 and the first clients were the Oatley Sisters’ Concert Hall, the Monte Carlo, the Opera House, Regina Hotel, and the Worden Hotel. Oleson drafted the excess power capacity of local sawmills to boost DELP current. In January 1900, the city council arranged to light city streets and electricity was installed in the rest of the business community that year. The following year, the city residences were wired as were some creek businesses. In 1903, the company had excess power and it was used for the fire department's engine. The streets were lit all night to keep the boiler running.¹⁾

Billy Chappell acquired a half interest in Claim No. 27 on Eldorado for $600, money lent to him by Alex McDonald. Chappell was considered one of the most capable miners in the Klondike. The property yielded about 1 million dollars. In the early 1900s, Chappell took Jeremiah Lynch around his claim and down to the bottom of a shallow shaft only fifteen feet deep. The ground was thawed at the base and he panned out twenty-five pounds of dirt to get $240 in coarse dark nuggets. Chappell phoned down to Charley Worden at Stanley and Worden’s claim No. 24 on Eldorado. He bet Warden could not get as much gold from a pan, and he won as the pan from No. 24 weighed only $224. The Eldorado kings were generous in their warm hospitality.²⁾